A freak accident has taken the life of 30-year-old Spanish pop star Joana Sainz Garcia during a live performance when an exploding firework hit and killed her.
The popular entertainer was in the middle of a performance at a music festival in Las Berlanas, Spain with her entire group, Super Hollywood Orchestra, on September 1 when the object struck her in the stomach.
The group has expressed not only their sadness but also utter confusion over the situation, pointing out that nothing of this sort had happened in the many years of running the show with the exact same act.
Prones 1SL, the promoter behind Super Hollywood Orchestra wrote on Facebook: “[On behalf of] Prones 1SL agency, that represents the Super Hollywood Orchestra, and all our staff, musicians, assembly, and artists, in general, [we] express our most heartfelt condolences to the family, partner, and friends for the loss of our colleague Joana.”
The statement continued with: “She always showed exemplary behavior, both personal and artistic, in addition to a great human quality. It’s going to be very difficult for all of us to overcome her absence. We will always remember you, Joana. R.I.P.”
The fireworks were supposed to be an extra visual effect on top of the other visuals and should have only burned for 15-20 seconds.
However, manufacturer error resulted in one firework filled with the wrong material, which caused it to explode instead.
The incident was captured on video, which shows the group singing on stage as the projectile struck and exploded, and led to the abrupt ending of the whole performance.
Sainz could be seen collapsing on the stage as a doctor immediately rushed to help her. It took 25 minutes before the ambulance arrived.
She died of her injuries in the hospital later on. Many of the group’s fans expressed their condolences on social media, and it seems like many are still in shock over what happened and are refusing to believe it.
There has been an active investigation into the incident, as some details about it remain unknown.
Prones 1SL’s owner, Isidro López, revealed: “When loading the cartridge, they put in another material and exploded the iron casing, which [injured] Joana.”
Some have pointed out that there might be more fireworks with a similarly worrying defect, and the manufacturer has come under fire for their involvement as well.
